As aspiring women leaders move from clarifying their larger driving passion to succeeding at a specific job, it is important that they recognize both the written, and especially unwritten, rules that determine how quickly they advance in their career. While a woman's company may dictate more specific rules of the workplace, executives cited eight important pieces of acumen they wished they had known sooner in their careers, regardless of industry:

1. Identify and master critical skills first. It can take people at least six months to fully understand all the expectations of their new job and about a year to properly execute them. If a woman can focus on and perfect the core attributes of her job early on, it will build her credibility faster in the organization. 

She must ensure that she is proficient in her primary duties before distracting herself with things such as networking or attending conferences.

2. Think about the end goal. As a woman moves higher up in her organization, she will find that being a technical expert is far less important than her ability to motivate and inspire people. One CFO advised that as a woman advances, "finding [her] voice as a leader is perhaps more important than getting proficient in [her] technical role." 

The leaders interviewed had enough technical skill to merit their promotion, but became leaders primarily due to skills such as effectively managing a team or excellent communication. They filled their gaps in technical knowledge by surrounding themselves with others whose strengths were different than their own. 

Young women should start asking themselves how they can leverage other skills besides technical knowledge to add value in their company. Envisioning what they would like to be remembered for can serve as a personal mission statement that can help track progress toward. 

Whether it consists of specific improvements they made, quality relationships they built, or their ability to handle high pressure with poise, they need to think beyond technical expertise.

3. Develop a professional presence. How a woman presents herself in the workplace is critical if she is an aspiring leader. A professional presence encompasses a number of characteristics: attentive eye contact, professional attire, and a confident posture and handshake. 

Features like these will help reinforce a woman's presence which is ultimately about establishing the fact that she is credible, respected, and has the ability to inspire "followership" in those she works with.

4. Develop a strategic viewpoint. Most of the leaders interviewed found that their promotions to leadership were a result of their ability not to get lost in the details of their job or department, but their capacity to assess their organization from a bird's eye viewpoint. Young women should demonstrate an awareness of how their organization works as a whole and how their particular job or department influences the big picture.

They can practice this through careful observation and by asking themselves questions on the job. For instance, how will a particular proposal affect the company as a whole? How will a decision impact the organization collectively, not just her department?

5. Stay positive. While this sounds simple, it is often forgotten how powerful a positive attitude can be when advancing within a company. A large amount of business is handled in social venues and many times business decisions are based on the likeability of the person one is interacting with. 

Staying positive also keeps the focus on finding solutions to problems as opposed to constantly complaining about them. If a woman delivers strong results on the job coupled with a positive attitude, it will be hard for her to go unnoticed.

6. Be helpful, but strategically helpful. Succeeding will always require teamwork, and it is important for a young woman to demonstrate that she is team-oriented. It strengthens her alliances at work, and potentially exposes her to new skills and people. 

However, too often women only demonstrate their helpfulness in "support-type tasks," or work that they have been socialized to do. For instance, women are far more likely than men to volunteer to take on administrative roles, such as taking notes at a meeting, when it is not part of their job description. 

Historically women have been the ones to get the coffee, be the secretary, or generally play a supporting role. While it is important that young women lend a hand where needed, they should give pause to consistently taking these roles.

7. Take ownership of successes. Another distinct difference between men and women is the likelihood that they will claim credit for what they have achieved. While men regularly assume credit for successful initiatives, women are more likely to assume that people will notice their hard work and give them the credit they are due. 

Women are more likely to dilute their contributions by stating that "we" achieved something instead of "I" achieved it. Young women should practice using a clearer, fact-based approach. 

For instance, "Last year when I suggested we update our plan, I never thought it would lead us to such a major overhaul." The women interviewed all gave credit to people in their lives for giving them the support they needed to attain their executive role, but each took ownership of the improvements that she had personally made. 

They added that consistent communication is crucial to taking credit. Using meetings as venues for recognizing accomplishments and follow-up emails to her boss are good ways for a woman to keep her ideas and contributions associated with her and not claimed by someone else.

8. Know one's strengths and weaknesses. Leaders distinguish themselves from managers as people who are open to and ask for both upward and downward feedback. Aspiring leaders need to demonstrate that they can take constructive criticism and use the strengths of others to balance their weaknesses. 

Annual performance reviews are excellent times for women to reflect on how they have created value for their organization and where they could improve. They should come prepared to highlight specifically how they have created value but also be open to their boss' suggestions for improvement. 

It is also important that they get in the habit of requesting informal feedback, always asking for input on both how they excelled and how they could improve.

This article is based on the book "The Next Generation of Women Leaders." The book summary is available online at Business Book Summaries.

• Persistence. Oprah grew up extremely poor in rural Mississippi. She was born into absolutely nothing.  She was actually raised on welfare.  As of September 2009, her net worth is more than $2.3 billion US dollars.  She did not let anybody tell her that she could not do what she wanted to do.  She kept trying and took advantage of any opportunities afforded her.

• Finding a voice. Through her talk show mainly, Oprah has managed to build a reputation as a caring person who focuses on self-improvement and the truth.  Her “brand” is so powerful that she’s influenced Texas beef sales and the US presidency in 2008.

• Continue to battle against personal demons.  Oprah’s public battle with weight has shown that although she does at time gain weight, she continues to struggle to keep her weight down.  What does this say to everybody else?  That even the most successful female in the USA is not perfect.  She is human like the rest of us.  If she can be so successful and still have personal tribulations then there’s hope for the rest of us.  Don’t let personal issues keep you from being successful.

• Once you have a franchise going, keep going.  Oprah might have started with a talk show but she did not stop there.  Two magazines and a website are other avenues she has to influence people.  Her charity, Oprah’s Angel Network, has earned over 51 million US dollars to support charities and non-profit organizations helping the underprivileged. Wonder when she is going to put out a music album?

• Keep good people around.  One person could not do everything that Oprah has managed to do over the years.  Keep good people around who support you and do what you tell them to do how you want it done.  Delegate what you can.  Help build up those that work with and for you.  Do not keep people around who sabotage your goals.

• Do Good Works. Sure, it might be easier to be generous when you are that rich but admittedly, other rich people exist who don’t try to make a difference with their money.  Certainly, not everybody can fund a new public school for 151 schoolchildren in Africa.  We can all, however, take our cue from her generosity and try to give or do as much as we can in our lives, even something as simple as using a charity credit card, can give money everytime to the needy without you even realising!